The State Ethics Commission is looking into a former Marshfield Conservation Commission chairman following a Marshfield Police Department investigation, Police Chief Phillip Tavares said.

Marshfield police began looking into Mark Stevenson in August last year after Erich Roht, of Roht Marine on Main Street, had an “uncomfortable encounter” with Stevenson regarding a project for his business, Tavares said.

The investigation revealed what police believed were ethical violations as well as trespassing and breaking and entering. That information was turned over to the ethics commission last October, Tavares said.

Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth, who was serving on Marshfield’s Zoning Board of Appeals, both resigned from their positions on Aug. 20.

As of this June, however, the conservation commission was seeking to reappoint Stevenson to the board to rebuild it to six members, according to letters that the Mariner obtained from Marshfield police. Stevenson submitted his application for appointment by selectmen on June 2 and the commission voted unanimously on June 3 to recommend his appointment to selectmen.

Stevenson’s attorney, Robert Harnais, said it was his understanding that the State Ethics Commission was doing an investigation and that his client and he were, “willing to sit down with them and willing to give a statement to them.”

“Obviously we’re going to cooperate with everything,” Harnais said.

Harnais said that Stevenson had stepped down from the conservation commission because he was “tired of the nonsense,” but that serving on the commission was something Stevenson had always enjoyed doing.

“He used to work hard as being the chairman and he’s done a good job, according to my understanding from other board members,” Harnais said.

Selectmen Chairman John Hall said he believed the conservation commission was unaware of the ethics commission’s investigation.

“They were unaware that the police had turned that over to the ethics commission and the ethics commission was investigating it, which they are still doing,” he said.

Hall said he declined to put Stevenson’s name forward for reappointment until after the ethics commission comes out with any findings. A timeline of the state’s review was not clear as of press time.

“I know he’s innocent until proven guilty, but if there’s an investigation going on about the integrity of an individual I would rather not have him appointed,” Hall said, adding, “instead of trying to remove him from the conservation commission if he was found in violation by the ethics committee, especially because of the severity of the charges.”

Rejecting Stevenson’s bid

Roht first encountered Stevenson on Jan. 28, 2013, when Stevenson came to Roht Marine at the request of Roht’s contractor, Paul Hastay, to quote a pile-driving job, according to documents from the police investigation.

Page 2 of 5 - Roht said Roht Marine is a “destination” business that includes a clam shack — Erich’s Clam Shack — Mary’s Boat Livery for boat docking, launching and rentals, a “boat house” that serves alcohol and a bed and breakfast that has yet to open.

Police learned in the investigation that Stevenson opened his conversation with Roht by providing a 10- to 15-minute overview of his work as the conservation commission chairman prior to quoting the job, which he said would be expensive. Hastay said he was previously unaware Stevenson was on an official board, according to the police documents.

“He got into quoting the job and about how expensive it was going to be,” Roht said in an interview with the Mariner, adding, “but because he was the chair of the conservation commission he’d be able to make sure things went smoothly and we didn’t have any trouble.”

Stevenson told police that he opens his conversations with prospective clients by identifying himself as a member of the conservation commission. He told police during an interview Aug. 14, 2013, that he realized that may have been a poor choice of words and that he would change how he identified his position in the future.

Roht received two bids for the project, one from North Shore Marine Inc., for $14,450, and another from Stevenson through Offshore Marine Inc., for $30,920, according to documents from the investigation.

“I ended up not going with him. I got the job done by somebody else for less than half the money,” Roht said. “And I knew I’d pay the price for it somehow.”

On July 18, 2013, Roht was served with a cease and desist order by the Marshfield Police Department on behalf of conservation commission, signed with Conservation Agent Jay Wennemer’s name.

Roht told police he was under the impression Stevenson was the driving force behind the cease and desist order, despite the fact Stevenson had recused himself from all involvement with the Roht Marine project due to the conflict of interest with his business, according to police documents.

After receiving the cease and desist order, Roht told Hall, and the two went to the police.

“I had a major problem with this. He has a major conflict of interest. He knows he has a conflict of interest,” Roht said. “He was recusing himself from all the voting he was doing on the board because he knew he had a conflict.”

Police investigation

Marshfield Police Detective Greg Davis Jr. investigated the case and Tavares was involved at the beginning of the investigation.

According to police documents, witnesses placed Stevenson inside the bed and breakfast building on Roht’s property on two separate occasions while construction was being performed and the property was blocked with saw horses and Do Not Enter tape.

Page 3 of 5 - “We believe Mr. Stevenson entered that house without authority and because he didn’t have the authority, he trespassed there,” Tavares said. “We believe that happened after he didn’t get the job that he had bid for.”

Marshfield Building Inspector Gerald O’Neill told police that Stevenson visited him to discuss unauthorized work at the bed and breakfast building set back from the river, including a larger septic tank and interior renovations, such as new bathrooms in the main house.

According to the documents, O’Neill told police that Stevenson said he had been inside the house and witnessed the renovations firsthand. He also told O’Neill of an unauthorized patio off the main entrance of the house, the documents said.

In his interview with police, however, Stevenson said he only visited Roht Marine twice.

Both visits came in February 2013 when Stevenson came to view and then later speak with Roht about the pile-driving job, and not on any other occasion, according to the police documents.

Stevenson told police that he and Frank Woodfall, another conservation commission member, had viewed the unauthorized patio from Route 3A, and that the patio was the only issue he brought up with O’Neill, the police documents showed.

Woodfall, who is still listed as a member of the conservation commission on the town’s website, could not be reached for comment.

According to the documents, Stevenson told police that while he had recused himself from all voting on Roht Marine projects due to conflict of interest, he maintained it was his duty as a board member to report visible violations of waterways construction.

Stevenson declined to be interviewed, referring to his attorney, Harnais.

Hall said if someone recuses himself or herself from voting on a project, they should recuse themselves from everything involving a project.

“If you see a violation and you go back to the building inspector to report on it, that’s not really recusing yourself and not really having anything to do with that project,” Hall said. “When you recuse yourself from something, you’re supposed to leave it alone. It’s not your project.”

Abuse of authority?

As a result of the investigation, police believed Stevenson abused his authority to influence a bidding process, Tavares said.

“When he didn’t get the bid, it appears there was some type of retaliation against Roht,” Tavares said. “There are ethical violations there because he was supposed to be recused from the entire process.”

According to the investigation, Stevenson called Wennemer, the conservation agent, about the cease and desist order while Wennemer was on vacation. Wennemer told police he agreed the cease and desist was within order, believing it was a reported discrepancy about the patio being constructed without authorization.

Page 4 of 5 - Wennemer told police his secretary, Lois Keenliside, was authorized to sign his name in his absence. Town records show Keenliside is authorized to sign for purchase orders, invoices and payroll.

When examining the cease and desist order, police found that the document had two copies of the last page — one with Wennemer’s signature, signed by Keenliside, and one with Stevenson’s signature as the chairman of the conservation commission.

“Finding in the cease and desist order a second back page that has Stevenson’s name on it is another indication that he wasn’t recused,” Tavares said.

Since Wennemer was out of town, Stevenson called Tavares twice on his cell phone to have police serve Roht with the cease and desist order, police documents said.

Beyond Roht Marine, police investigated Stevenson’s involvement with building a bridge from Joseph Driebeek Way to Haddad’s Ocean Café, in which Stevenson did the work for the bridge and recused himself from voting on the project.

Charles Haddad, co-owner of Haddad’s Ocean Café, could not be reached for comment as of press time, but an employee of his restaurant said Haddad was not comfortable commenting due to a lawsuit being brought against Stevenson.

Harnais said he was unaware of any lawsuit against his client.

Police also investigated Stevenson for his involvement building a gate on the access road to the Goggin property.

Wennemer had hired Stevenson to install the gate. Both Wennemer and Stevenson received letters from the State Ethics Commission about a conflict of interest with the project, the police documents showed.

During the recent investigation, Wennemer told police, in hindsight, he should have known better. Wennemer did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

When offering his thoughts on the police investigation, Harnais said he was “stunned that the police felt the need to release the audio and video of an investigation that no charge came out of in an effort to make somebody look bad.”

Harnais has requested the audio and video, along with the police documents.

Waiting for the state

Police closed their investigation when it was turned over to the State Ethics Commission, who received the entire police file by Oct. 8, 2013, Tavares said.

Tavares said his department did not intend to charge Stevenson criminally for his alleged crimes.

“That’s what the State Ethics Commission is for. They can issue fines or sentence someone to a period of incarceration,” he said. “Whereas the crimes that were alleged were misdemeanors, district court type of stuff, the bigger picture is the ethics violations and the influencing through the official use of their office for personal gain.”

Page 5 of 5 - The State Ethics Commission could not confirm or deny whether it was reviewing Stevenson’s case due to strict confidentiality rules, said David Giannotti, chief of the ethics commission’s public education and communications division.

Tavares said that while his department doesn’t know what’s going on with the ethics commission, he believes they would have been notified if the case was closed or unsubstantiated.

“The fact we haven’t heard from them is an indication that the case is still open and active and involved,” he said.

Town Administrator Rocco Longo said he was troubled by the investigation.

“Of course I’m concerned, I want the town to set an exemplary standard when it comes to ethics and compliance and that’s why the town has had several trainings,” Longo said, adding that in Stevenson’s case, he would withhold judgment until there was an outcome.

In the end, Roht said he just wants justice.

“I’d like him to have to answer for what he’s done, because he hasn’t had to,” Roht said.